The 25-hour readathon is accompanied by a Portuguese-language reading and a children's version.
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — One of the world’s best known live readings of Herman Melville’s iconic American novel “Moby-Dick” returns to the New Bedford Whaling Museum this weekend.
The 22nd annual Moby-Dick Marathon will draw readers and enthusiasts from around the globe to the museum’s campus at 18 Johnny Cake Hill and to the livestream reading online. Obsessive literary aficionados, local schoolchildren and everyone in between will travel back in time to accompany the narrator, Ishmael, on the epic whaling journey and hunt for the elusive white whale.
The event is free and open to the public. Full details are available at whalingmuseum.org.
The Whaling Museum has marked the anniversary of Melville’s 1841 departure from the Port of New Bedford and Fairhaven aboard the whaleship Acushnet with this midwinter tradition since 1995.
Melville would later pen “Moby-Dick,” publishing the famous novel in 1851. Moby-Dick Marathon weekend features the main 25-hour readathon — fueled by caffeine, warm local soups, theatrical performances and a fondness for the author’s artistry — as well as two mini-marathons on Saturday: a Portuguese-language reading of Tiago Patricio’s abridged “Moby-Dick” and a children’s version by Classic Starts.
Each year, the museum invites a special guest to launch the marathon. Alan Burdick, an author and staff writer at The New Yorker, will read the classic opening excerpt from “Moby-Dick” in 2018, beginning with the famous line, “Call me Ishmael.”
The reading will move through multiple settings in the museum, as well as the Seamen’s Bethel, made famous in “Moby-Dick” as the “Whalemen’s Chapel.”
The event begins with readers and audience members nestled alongside the world’s largest whaleship model — the Lagoda. Marathoners sit among the sails, lines and whaling tools of the time while experiencing the first chapters.
The next section of the book, beginning at chapter 7 — The Chapel — is read at the Seamen’s Bethel. Melville attended a service there shortly before he shipped out and heard a sermon by the chaplain, the Rev. Enoch Mudge, who was the model for Father Mapple.
Melville’s pew in the Bethel is marked to this day.
The remainder of the book is read nonstop in a gallery with 180-degree views of the fishing fleet and other vessels lining New Bedford Harbor. The only exception will be Chapter 40, Midnight Forecastle, which will be performed in the museum’s Cook Memorial Theater by Culture*Park.
The entire marathon is peppered with Melville-inspired activities, including opportunities to chat with scholars from the Melville Society Cultural Project and a chance to “stump” the scholars by testing their Melville knowledge.
The Whaling Museum, in collaboration with The Melville Society, is the home of the Melville Society Archive, which is housed in the museum's research library. The archive constitutes one of the best collections of Melville scholarship and resources anywhere in the world.
The few hardy souls who brave the voyage by staying awake through all 136 chapters of the great American epic — from Etymology to Epilogue — will receive a prize when the marathon comes to an end on Sunday.
The main marathon program highlights are below. Times are approximate and are dependent upon the reading pace of the marathon.
All Saturday and Sunday events are free and open to the public. Guests may come and go as needed through the museum’s main entrance.
Saturday, Jan. 6
• 10 a.m. Stump the Scholars: Audience brings their most challenging Melville-related questions and tries to stump Melville scholars.
• 10 a.m. Children’s Mini-Marathon: abridged version of Moby-Dick by Classic Starts
• 11:30 a.m. “Extracts” read by the Melville Society Cultural Project
• 12 p.m. Main Marathon begins
• 2:30 p.m. Chat with Melville scholars
• 3 p.m. Portuguese Marathon: Tiago Patricio’s abridged version of “Moby-Dick” in Portuguese
• 3-5 p.m. “Above it All” Artist Demonstration: See art in action at the National Whaling Historical Park as artist Peter Michael Martin pulls a large-scale woodblock print, designed for the Moby-Dick Marathon.
• 4-5 p.m. Artist Jacob Mark signs copies of the poster he designed for the marathon.
• 5–9 p.m. Cousin Hosea’s Chowder House and the Decanter Taproom: Recharge and warm up with New Bedford’s finest chowders and soups from local restaurants — Destination Soups, Freestone’s City Grill, Tia Maria’s European Cafe and Quahog Republic Whaler’s Tavern. Moby-Dick Brewery will be serving up local brews in the Decanter Taproom.
• 7-7:30 p.m. Culture*Park’s performance of “Midnight, Forecastle” (chapter 40)
Sunday, January 7
• 8 a.m. The 20th-hour Feast — a tasty morning treat to fuel readers in the home stretch
• 9:30 a.m. Chat with Melville scholars
• 1 p.m. Epilogue and prizes for the souls who stay awake and make it through the entire voyage.
The entire marathon will be broadcast via livestream in a couple of venues within the museum, at 18 Johnny Cake Hill, as well as online, so enthusiasts around the globe can follow along. Visit whalingmuseum.org for more information.